[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 72 (Tuesday, April 15, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18253-18254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-9128]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Forest Service


Clarification of Language in the 1994 Record of Decision for the 
Northwest Forest Plan: National Forests and Bureau of Land Management 
Districts Within the Range of the Northern Spotted Owl; Western Oregon 
and Washington, and Northwestern California

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, USDI; Forest Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Draft Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the Clarification of 
Language in the 1994 record of decision for the Northwest Forest Plan; 
National Forests and Bureau of Land Management Districts within the 
range of the Northern Spotted Owl.

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SUMMARY: The USDI Bureau of Land Management and the USDA Forest Service 
have prepared a DSEIS to consider an amendment of selected portions of 
the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS) (part of the Northwest forest 
Plan) to clarify guidance intended to protect and restore watersheds. 
This amendment is needed because projects intended to achieve Northwest 
Forest Plan goals have been delayed or stopped due to misapplication of 
certain passages in the ACS. This DSEIS supplements the Northwest 
Forest Plan Final SEIS. It is not intended to replace or reconsider the 
plan as a whole, but

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focuses on specific passages within the ACS.

DATES: Written comments on the DSEIS must be postmarked or otherwise 
delivered by 4:15 p.m. 90 days following the date the Environmental 
Protection Agency publishes the NOA and filing of the DSEIS in the 
Federal Register. Individual respondents may request confidentiality. 
If you wish to withhold your name or address from public review or from 
disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your written comment. Such requests 
will be honored to the extent allowed by law. All submissions from 
organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety. No public meetings have been scheduled.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: ACS EIS, P.O. Box 221090, Salt 
Lake City, UT 84122-1090; FAX: (801) 517-1014 (please address fax to 
``ACS EIS''); E-mail: acs [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joyce Casey; phone (503) 326-2430; E-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Two alternatives are considered in this 
DSEIS. No action would not change existing language within the ACS. The 
proposed action (preferred alternative) would make limited changes to 
clarify how the agencies are to design projects to follow the ACS.
    The proposed action would approve limited changes to language 
within the ACS. The ACS is an integral part of the Northwest Forest 
Plan. The ACS is intended to maintain and restore the ecological health 
of watersheds and aquatic ecosystems within the Northwest Forest Plan 
area. The ACS includes language that has been interpreted to establish 
an expectation that all projects must achieve all ACS objectives. These 
interpretations hinder Federal land managers' ability to plan and 
implement projects needed to achieve Northwest Forest Plan goals. The 
proposed action would amend the Northwest Forest Plan to clarify that:
    [sbull] The proper scales for Federal land managers to evaluate 
progress toward achievement of the ACS objectives are the watershed and 
broader scales;
    [sbull] No single project should be expected to achieve all ACS 
objectives;
    [sbull] Decision makers must design projects to follow the ACS. 
Project records must contain evidence that projects comply with 
relevant Standards and Guidelines in sections C and D of attachment A 
in the Northwest Forest Plan record of decision. Project records must 
also demonstrate how the decision maker used relevant information from 
applicable watershed analysis to provide context for the design and 
assessment of the project.
    [sbull] References to ACS objectives in the Standards and 
Guidelines in Sections C and D do not require that decision makers find 
that site-specific projects, in themselves, will fully attain ACS 
objectives.
    The proposed action (preferred alternative) would retain all 
existing components of the ACS, including Riparian Reserves, Key 
Watersheds, watershed analysis, and watershed restoration. It would 
reinforce concepts about appropriate scales of analysis and the role of 
standards and guidelines. It would remove the expectation that all 
projects must achieve all ACS objectives, and would reinforce the role 
of watershed analysis in providing context for actions that may affect 
aquatic or riparian habitat.

    Dated: April 9, 2003.
Michael C. Ash,
Deputy Regional Forester, Pacific Northwest Region.
[FR Doc. 03-9128 Filed 4-14-03; 8:45 am]
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